This completes Balladeer’s Blog’s chapter guide to my examination of Isidore Ducasse’s 1868 work of surreal horror The Songs of Maldoror.

SIXTH CANTO

Maldoror and Mervyn, drawn by Monsieur Le Six.

Sixth Canto, Stanza 1: The author Isidore Ducasse predicts that his work The Songs of Maldoror will revolutionize literature and foresees a career for himself as a major force in the creative arts. Unfortunately his death in 1870 at the age of 24 prevented that from happening. CLICK HERE

Sixth Canto, Stanza 2: After terrorizing Madrid, Saint Petersburg and Peking through a series of brutal murders, Maldoror begins subjecting Paris to similar treatment. CLICK HERE

Sixth Canto, Stanza 3: With the night-darkened streets of Paris virtually empty as fear of Maldoror grows, our protagonist fixates on a 16 year old boy named Mervyn who is on his way home after a late fencing lesson. CLICK HERE

Sixth Canto, Stanza 4: Maldoror surreptitiously follows Mervyn into his family’s home on the Rue Lafayette. He spies on the group in order to plot his seduction and murder of the 16 year old. CLICK HERE

Sixth Canto, Stanza 5: Our vile main character asks Mervyn to run away with him and be his lover and the young man agrees. CLICK HERE

Sixth Canto, Stanza 6: Maldoror relishes how this adventure with Mervyn is the latest round of his never-ending war with his archrival God. CLICK HERE

Sixth Canto, Stanza 7: Maldoror recruits a madman called Aghone, whose life story charms our main character with its violence and insanity. CLICK HERE

Sixth Canto, Stanza 8: By the seashore Maldoror confronts an Archangel sent by God to capture him. When the Archangel reveals its true identity not only is Maldoror shocked but we at last get closure as to his true nature. CLICK HERE

Sixth Canto, Stanza 9: Maldoror carries out his sinister plan against Mervyn, prompting God to prepare for final battle with the foul monster. CLICK HERE

Sixth Canto, Stanza 10: The various strands of the Sixth Canto’s story all come together in this concluding segment of The Songs of Maldoror. CLICK HERE

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FOR MY REVIEW OF an 1812 Gothic Horror story featuring a Mandragore, an undead servitor called a Barenhauter and a She-Golem Click HERE